Daniel al-Qumisi
Daniel al-Qumisi · Historical & Religious Figures
Karaite exegete and leader of the Mourners of Zion who called the Jews back to Jerusalem
seconde moitié du IXe siècle, Damghan, Perse (Iran) — première moitié du Xe siècle, Jérusalem
Damghan, Jérusalem
Daniel al-Qumisi is recognized among Jewish contributors to Historical & Religious Figures — Karaite exegete and leader of the Mourners of Zion who called the Jews back to Jerusalem
Origins and early life
Daniel ben Moses al-Qumisi was born in the second half of the ninth century at Damghan, in the district of Qumis in northern Persia, a Persian Jew of the Karaite movement — the Encyclopaedia Iranica, which rarely devotes an entry to a Karaite figure, gives him one, as does Britannica.
Work and career
He was one of the most original of the early Karaite exegetes, and an independent one. A rationalist who read Scripture by its plain sense, he broke even with Anan ben David, the movement's founder, when reason required it.
Personal life
His life's decision was to leave Persia for Jerusalem, where he became the leading figure of the Avelei Zion, the Mourners of Zion — ascetics who settled in the holy city to grieve for the Temple and who called on the Jews of the dispersion, in letters that survive, to give up the comforts of exile and return to the Land of Israel: 'Come to Jerusalem', he wrote, 'from every city five men.' His commentaries, notably the Pitron Sheneim-Asar on the twelve minor prophets, are among the oldest Hebrew biblical commentaries to survive, and mark the beginning of the great Karaite school of Jerusalem. He died there in the first half of the tenth century.
Verify and go deeper with these external references.
Source: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/danial-b
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Karaite exegete and leader of the Mourners of Zion who called the Jews back to Jerusalem
Source: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/danial-b
